The first flush is almost finished in my garden, the black spot has almost disappeared now that temperatures are climbing, I have very little sawfly damage, and the rose weevils are much less conspicuous this year. A great year, all in all.

Ghislaine de Feligonde is loaded with buds, as usual, and is just starting to bloom. It, and Molineux, are the only ones hit by the rose weevils this year, first time for Ghislaine. I have been hand picking them every day and picking off the blooms with holes, I think it made a pretty good impact and the damage is minimal. The roses that were their usual targets in the past seem fine this year. As Zuzu said, less conspicuous this year.

Hurray for me getting the roses sprayed today. Should have been done already but now at least I can keep to my schedule all summer and have nice clean foliage. This was the first spraying of the year. The roses are really short (REALLY short) so it wasn't too difficult to do.

No, this one is off by itself. That mix-up was when I had all my pots sitting together when we first moved here.

It has the shape and size of Polka, both in bloom and the plant growth and I saw it bloom last year and it was much lighter. I didn't take a picture of it then as it wasn't a nice enough bloom, being one of the first ones after planting.

Sorry Toni, looks like winter took its toll on everything else too (not just the roses). Go to the garden center, and get something with some blooms to lift your spirits and brighten things a bit- that's what I always do when feeling defeated. Gosh, I must feel defeated or depressed a lot, LOL.

"...and don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous." Rumi

Neal - Went to 2 different nurseries yesterday. Bought almost nothing. Prices on plants this year are ridiculous. $15 for a 1 quart plant? $40 for a rose? $60 for a 1/2" caliper tree? But this is my yard EVERY spring.